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Business school is not just about learning how to make businesses profitable and how to become a millionaire before turning 40. More and more students are looking for an education that prepares them for a socially responsible business world. So, nonprofit has become appealing and the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) is at the head of the movement. "The idea that they can be socially responsible and still be in business is very appealing," said Jim Thompson, former director of public and global management programs at the GSB. Between 20 and 40 students per year are certified in nonprofit management, and half of the 350 MBA students take courses in various aspects of nonprofit management and social entrepreneurship. The Public Management Program married two of the GSB core competencies entrepreneurship and public management. Businesses increasingly confront communities with infrastructure problems such as lack of reasonable health care options and poor educational systems that impede their growth. At the same time, nonprofit service providers face increased competition for traditional funds, shrinking government funding and more social demands.
In other words, a nonprofit can't survive on ideals; it needs solid management skills. Putting socially oriented individuals in charge of revenue generating enterprises that support nonprofit programs seems the new way to combat social dilemmas. That translates into a new demand for those skills, especially from private foundations facing the cash-strapped nonprofit sector. They are focusing on finding people with proven business acumen for both the directorship and the board, according to Dennis Collins, president of the James Irvine Foundation. For more info visit http://www-gsb.stanford.edu/academics/programs/mba/pmp.
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